Power Management for Multi-Interface Device Clusters
Multi-interface devices with at least a high-power network interface and a low-power network interface may form into power management clusters. Power management clusters may be maintained over low-power networks associated with the low-power network interfaces. One or some relative few of the cluster participants may be designated lead devices. Designated lead devices participate in high-power networks as well as a low-power network of their power management cluster. Designated lead devices may monitor associated high-power networks for messages addressed to any participant in their power management cluster, and may notify a participant of the incoming message. In response, the participant may establish a high-power network connection to receive the message. In this way, each participant in the power management cluster receives a service quality benefit of a continuous high-power network connection, but only a relative few participants suffer the associated power expenditure at any given moment.
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It has become common place for people to use computing devices to communicate with each other. From simple text and graphics to interactive multimedia environments including voice, animation and video, computing devices have gone beyond the traditional mobile phone to support a wide variety of modes of communication. There is a correspondingly wide variety of communication networks that connect such computing devices, each with characteristic advantages and disadvantages, and, in particular, each requiring a characteristic expenditure of power. A core concern of device and network designers, particularly for portable computing devices with limited power supplies, is to provide a rich communication feature set while operating within a power budget.
The proliferation of communication networks and network types has resulted in further challenges and opportunities. In particular, network users typically desire to utilize the lowest cost network that can provide a given communication feature set. For example, the increasing availability of relatively low cost wireless internet service has sparked a demand for mobile Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service. However, implementation of a given communication feature set for a network not explicitly designed for that feature set typically involves engineering trade-offs, particularly with respect to device power expenditure.
The mobile VoIP service example illustrates the problem. Traditional mobile phones operate at a variety of power expenditure levels to minimize overall usage, for example, at a relatively low level when waiting for a call and at higher levels during a call. Handset network interface power levels are tuned to the relatively low bandwidth required for telephone quality voice. In contrast, computing devices supporting mobile VoIP service typically utilize a standard wireless internet connection, for example, in accordance with one of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE®)802.11 series of standards. Such standards are tuned for internet usage patterns as opposed to telephone call usage patterns, so that, for example, they may lack a suitable low power mode in which to wait for an incoming call thus quickly spending the device's power budget.
Rapid expenditure of a device's power budget effectively reduces service quality, particularly for mobile devices with limited power supplies. Unfortunately, current methods of ameliorating this problem can introduce further problems. For the mobile VoIP service example, a simple power saving mechanism between calls is to activate the device's network interface only periodically to check for an incoming call. However, this mechanism introduces a call response delay which also reduces service quality, albeit in a different way. Systems and methods are desirable that adapt to, for example, low cost networks in ways that minimize reduction in service quality.
SUMMARYMulti-interface devices with at least a high-power network interface and a low-power network interface may form into power management clusters. Power management clusters may be maintained over low-power networks associated with the low-power network interfaces. One or some relative few of the cluster participants may be designated lead devices. Designated lead devices participate in high-power networks as well as a low-power network of their power management cluster. Designated lead devices may monitor associated high-power networks for messages addressed to any participant in their power management cluster, and may notify a participant of the incoming message. In response, the participant may establish a high-power network connection to receive the message. In this way, each participant in the power management cluster receives a service quality benefit of a continuous high-power network connection, but only a relative few participants suffer the associated power expenditure at any given moment. Lead device duty may be shared among power management cluster participants so as not to unduly tax any particular participant.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
The same numbers are used throughout the disclosure and figures to reference like components and features.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONConcomitant with the proliferation of networks and network types has been a proliferation of corresponding network interface types. Computing devices may utilize network interfaces to access network facilities. It is increasing common for a single computing device to incorporate more than one network interface. Such computing devices are referred to herein as multi-interface devices. For the purposes of this description a network interface may be classified as a high-power network interface or a low-power network interface, with a corresponding network classified as a high-power network and a low-power network, respectively. High-power network interfaces require higher power expenditure than low-power network interfaces during at least some part of a network protocol and/or comparatively over a period of time. In an embodiment of the invention, utilization of a device's high-power network interface is minimized by maintenance of a power management cluster through the device's low-power network interface.
Here and throughout this description, the mobile VoIP service example will prove illustrative of systems and methods in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. However, embodiments of the invention are not limited to improving mobile VoIP service. Consider a set of computing devices, each having at least a high-power network interface and a low-power network interface, and suppose each computing device utilizes its high-power network interface to provide mobile VoIP service to a user of the computing device. To minimize call response times, each device may maintain a high-power network connection although the full capabilities of the high-power network are not required except during a call. In an embodiment of the invention, at least some of the set of devices form a power management cluster over a low-power network (i.e., a network established through the low-power network interfaces of the devices), and the costs of maintaining high-power network connections are amortized among the participants of the power management cluster. Details are best described with reference to illustrative figures.
The power management cluster 118 may incorporate more than one type of low-power network. Any suitable network may serve as the high-power network 102 and/or one of the low-power networks incorporated into the power management cluster 118. Further examples of suitable networks include networks in accordance with the ZigBee™, “Ultra-Wideband” (UWB), “WiMAX”, and further IEEE® networking standards. In the example depicted in
The devices 106, 108, 110, 112, 114, 116 may be any suitable multi-interface device. Examples of suitable devices include portable computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile telephones, programmable consumer electronics devices, mobile computing devices with portable and/or limited power supplies, and suitable combinations thereof. Further examples of suitable devices include mainframes, servers, minicomputers, desktop computers, personal computers (PCs), workstations, routers, gateways, switches, hubs, computing devices with non-portable and/or unlimited power supplies and suitable combinations thereof. In the example shown in
In the example depicted in
Devices 108, 110, 112, 114 in the power management cluster 118 other than the lead device 106 need not maintain a high-power connection to the high-power network AP 104 in order to monitor for incoming messages. In an embodiment of the invention, this results in a significant power savings for the individual devices 108, 110, 112, 114 as well as for the power management cluster 118 considered as a whole. In addition, the role of lead device may be shared among the devices 106, 108, 110, 112, 114 of the power management cluster 118 so as to maximize an operational lifetime of each individual device 106, 108, 110, 112, 114 and/or the power management cluster 118 considered as a whole. Example steps for designating lead devices of power management clusters in accordance with an embodiment of the invention are described below in more detail with reference to
In an embodiment of the invention, modification of network infrastructure such as the high-power network AP 104 (
In the example system architecture 200 shown in
The multi-interface device 202 is a computing device that may include one or more processing units capable of executing instructions to perform tasks, as well as one or more types of computer-readable media such as volatile and/or non-volatile memory capable of storing data, computer programs and/or computer program components. Such computer programs and components may include executable instructions, structured data and/or unstructured data organized into modules, routines and/or any suitable programmatic object. Such computer programs and components may be created by and/or incorporate any suitable computer programming language. The multi-interface device 202 may include a wide variety of input/output (I/O) devices not shown in
For clarity, embodiments of the invention may be described herein with reference to symbolic operations such as those of a computer programming language. Such symbolic operations and any data that they act upon correspond to physical states of components and changes in components of computing devices such as the multi-interface device 202 in a manner well understood by one of skill in the art. In an embodiment of the invention, each such operation and its associated data may be fully implemented in hardware.
The high-power network interface 204 may provide access to any suitable high-power network, such as those described above with reference to
The power management module 208 may include a power management cluster module 216, a high-power (HP) network monitoring module 218, and a high-power (HP) traffic notification module 220. In an embodiment of the invention, the power management cluster module 216 facilitates formation and maintenance of power management clusters such as the power management cluster 118 of
Suppose the device 116 of
As described above with reference to
As depicted in
Having discovered participants of the high-power network, the device 116 (
The seeking device 116 (
The cluster join operation may not succeed. For example, the join request may be rejected on security grounds such as an insufficient trust relationship with existing participants 106, 108, 110, 112, 114 (
As a default, participants 108, 110, 112, 114 (
For example, each participant 106, 108, 110, 112, 114 (
The probability of being designated lead device (i.e., the lead designation probability) may be based on an amount of time a particular participant has previously served as lead device (i.e., the elapsed lead service time). For example, the lead designation probability may be inversely proportional to the elapsed lead service time. The lead designation probability may be based on a residual power of a cluster participant 106, 108, 110, 112, 114 (i.e., the power remaining in a power supply of the participant). For example, the lead designation probability may be proportional to the residual power of the cluster participant 106, 108, 110, 112, 114 (
In an embodiment of the invention, a primary duty of the lead device 106 (
Having detected an incoming message at the high-power network AP 104 (
The high-power traffic notification module 220 of the device 106, 108, 110, 112, 114 (
Having described the system architecture 200 (
At step 302 (
At step 306, the power management cluster 118 (
Having found the power management cluster 118 (
As described above, however, the attempt to join the power management cluster 118 (
However, if a suitable power management cluster could not be found or successfully joined, then, at step 402, a new power management cluster may be instantiated. For example, the device 116 (
Having successfully joined or instantiated a power management cluster, at step 410, the device 116 (
Before describing cluster lead designation in more detail, it will be helpful to describe further aspects of power management cluster discovery.
In some embodiments of the invention, the response to the Power Management Cluster Query message may include sufficient information to attempt a power management cluster join operation, and the power management cluster may be considered found. However, in one or more alternate embodiments of the invention, further information is required to attempt the power management cluster join operation and, at step 506, the further information may be requested, for example, from one of the cluster participants 106, 108, 110, 112, 114 (
At step 604, a new cluster lead may be selected from among cluster participants 108, 110, 112, 114 (
The candidate need not accept the designation as a cluster lead. For example, the candidate may not have sufficient resources to fulfill the lead device role. The candidate may respond to the Power Management Cluster Lead Designation message with a Power Management Cluster Lead Designation Acknowledge (Ack) message or a Power Management Cluster Lead Designation Not-Acknowledge (Nack) message. At step 608, it may be determined, for example, by the current lead device 106 (
Before acknowledging the designation as cluster lead, the candidate may active its high-power network interface 204 (
Claims
1. A tangible computer-readable data storage medium having thereon computer executable instructions for power management comprising:
- participating in a power management cluster that comprises: a low-power network of a plurality of devices, each device having a set of network interfaces comprising a high-power network interface and a low-power network interface, and each device in the low-power network connected to at least one other through its low-power network interface; and a lead device further connected to a high-power network access point through its high-power network interface.
2. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein a default mode of operation for the high-power network interface of each non-lead device is inactive.
3. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein a non-lead device connects to the high-power network access point through its high-power network interface in response to receiving a message from the lead device.
4. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the low-power network comprises a peer-to-peer network.
5. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the lead device instantiates the power management cluster.
6. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the lead device is designated from among the plurality of devices
7. A computer-implemented device capable of participating in a power management cluster comprising:
- a high-power network interface;
- a low-power network interface;
- a power management module comprising: a power management cluster module configured to, at least, connect to at least one similar device through the low-power network interface; a lead designation module configured to, at least, designate a lead device of the power management cluster; and a high-power network monitoring module configured to, at least, connect to a high-power network access point through the high-power network interface in response to being designated lead device of the power management cluster.
8. The computer-implemented device of claim 7, wherein the power management cluster module is further configured to, at least, enable the computer-implemented device to participate in a peer-to-peer network.
9. The computer-implemented device of claim 7, wherein:
- a plurality of similar devices participate in the power management cluster; and
- each device in the plurality has a similar probability of being designated as the lead device.
10. The computer-implemented device of claim 7, wherein:
- a plurality of similar devices participate in the power management cluster; and
- each device in the plurality has a probability of being designated as the lead device, the probability based on, at least, an amount of time the device has previously served as lead device.
11. The computer-implemented device of claim 7, wherein:
- a plurality of similar devices participate in the power management cluster; and
- each device in the plurality has a probability of being designated as the lead device, the probability based on, at least, a residual power of the device.
12. The computer-implemented device of claim 7, wherein:
- a plurality of similar devices participate in the power management cluster; and
- each device in the plurality has a probability of being designated as the lead device, the probability based on, at least, a mobility pattern of the device.
13. The computer-implemented device of claim 7, wherein:
- a plurality of similar devices participate in the power management cluster; and
- the high-power network monitoring module is further configured to, at least monitor the high-power network access point for incoming messages addressed to any device in the plurality; and
- the power management module further comprises a high-power traffic notification module configured to, at least, notify devices of the plurality, through the low-power network interface, of incoming messages at the high-power network access point.
14. A computer-implemented method of power management for a device having a low-power network interface and a high-power network interface, the method comprising:
- discovering a power management cluster;
- if discovery succeeds, joining the power management cluster through the low-power network interface; and
- if designated as a lead device of the power management cluster, connecting to a high-power network access point through the high-power network interface.
15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein discovering the power management cluster comprises discovering the lead device of the power management cluster.
16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein discovering the lead device of the power management cluster comprises searching for the lead device of the power management cluster through the high-power network interface.
17. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein:
- the power management cluster is a low-power network; and
- discovering the power management cluster further comprises receiving low-power network configuration information through the high-power network interface.
18. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising participating in designating a new lead device of the power management cluster.
19. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising monitoring the high-power network access point for incoming messages addressed to any device in the power management cluster.
20. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising connecting to the high-power network access point through the high-power network interface if notified of an incoming message by the lead device.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 5, 2007
Publication Date: Jul 10, 2008
Patent Grant number: 7650433
Applicant: Microsoft Corporation (Redmond, WA)
Inventors: Kun Tan (Beijing), Haitao Wu (Beijing)
Application Number: 11/620,403
International Classification: G06F 15/173 (20060101);